Chevron Gorgon Project Gets Final Go-Ahead
SAN RAMON, Calif. (
) --
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Report
plans to proceed with developing the Gorgon liquefied natural gas project offshore northwest Australia after receiving final approval by authorities in Australia.
"With a total resource base of more than 40 trillion cubic feet of gas and an estimated economic life of at least 40 years, Gorgon will be a major contributor to our company's future growth," said Chevron Chairman Dave O'Reilly, in a statement late Sunday.
Chevron owns 50% of the project. Its partners in the project are
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Report
and
Royal Dutch Shell
(RDS.A)
, each with a 25% stake.
Chevron estimates the first phase of the development will cost 43 billion Australian dollars ($36.85 billion). The first gas shipments from the project are planned for 2014.
Chevron last week said it
to sell liquefied natural gas from the Gorgon project to companies in Japan and South Korea. Chevron didn't disclose the value of the agreements, but reports said they were worth 70 billion Australian dollars ($60.2 billion).
"Gorgon adds significant long-term reserves and production for Chevron, bolstering our strong resource replacement and underscoring the importance of Australia to our growing natural gas business," said George Kirkland, Chevron's executive vice president, global upstream and gas, on Sunday.
-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York
.
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